It’s that time of year again. No, not when I write my now seemingly annual article (sorry, I’ll try and get back to it!), but rather the time when clubs anxiously await their fate as to which division they’ll be competing in the following season. Why, though, does it always come to this?

Hall Road Rangers Pick Up Three Valuable Points

This is the first article from Alex Blackburne, press officer at Hall Road Rangers, who has very kindly offered to provide the site with regular articles.

Hall Road Rangers bounced back from the disappointment of their midweek elimination from the East Riding Senior Cup by beating bottom side Maltby Main in the NCEL Premier Division. Goals from Paul Wilson and Liam Cattermole sealed the pointson a difficult pitch, and left manager Martin Thacker pleased with his side’s response.

“I think it’s so difficult to come to Maltby and play football on a pitch like that, but the lads did everything that they didn’t do on Tuesday night – they worked their socks off – and that’s what you get when you work hard in these leagues” he said after the game. “To get the three points is brilliant. It keeps us thirteen points off the bottom, and keeps us looking up.”

Hall road’s starting eleven included Jamie Waltham, a midweek signing from top side Bridlington Town, at centre back, and Liam Cattermole, who has re-signed for the club, on the bench. After a scrappy first half, in which Hall Road had the best chances, Maltby, on a ten match losing streak going into the match, were awarded a dubious penalty on 38 minutes when Michael Gregory was adjudged to have handled the ball. Luke Clay stepped up to take the spotkick, but his effort was saved by the young James Fossdyke in the Rangers goal. Buoyed by Fossdyke’s heroics, Rangers took the lead in first half stoppage time when Mark Griffin’s effort was parried straight to the feet of Paul Wilson, who tapped in for his first of the season. Half time: Maltby Main 0 Hall Road Rangers 1.

The second half continued in the same scrappy vein as the first, with some tasty challenges coming in from both sides. As Maltby pushed forward in search of an equaliser, two substitutes combined to seal the points for Rangers. Tim Taylor played a delightful through ball to Cattermole, and he slotted past home ‘keeper Andrew Carney with five minutes left. Full time: Maltby Main 0 Hall Road Rangers 2.

“When Hall Road play away, it’s always going to be scrappy, and you’ve got to find a way of winning”, explained Thacker, who had just witnessed the first clean sheet of his current stint as manager. “You can’t just keep passing and passing and expect to beat teams, and that’s exactly what we didn’t do today. We did everything that you have to do to win games against lower teams in the league away from home. Simple as that”.

After having had three points deducted for fielding an ineligible player earlier in the season, Rangers remain in twelfth position in the NCEL despite their win, as the points were deducted after the game.

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About James Bartaby

Hey,
I'm James and I'm relatively new to non-league football, having only taken in my first match in September 2011. Despite it being a 0-4 defeat for Hampton & Richmond Borough, I became a huge fan of the club and NL in general. So much so that they are now the first club that I mention when talking about which team I support! I just got massively disillusioned with top flight football in this country and the attitudes of the lawmakers and top clubs in general, and I wanted to start taking my son to see decent football.
I am now the club's Deputy Press Officer, and loving every minute!